ATTACK ON USS LIBERTY June 10, 2009

On the 6 Juue 1967, a reconnaissance ship, USS Liberty was attacked by the Israelis in the course of prosecuting the Six Days War.
At the time the ship was in international waters off the coast of Sinai in the Mediterranean. Most facts relating to the incident are not seriously at issue. The ship was attacked by Israeli air and naval forces, after having been sighted and circled from the air. It is reasonably clear that it was identified as an American naval ship.

Scott Horton interviewed Ray McGovern who suggests that Israel had at least two reasons for attacking the ship. Firstly, he suggests that they organizing to take the Golan Heights. Secondly, he suggests that the ship might have learned that Israelis were shooting Egyptian prisoners.

The BBC documentary, Dead in the Water, suggests other motives. An interviewee suggests that the war was a turning point in the history in the Middle East in which America, among other matters, decided to arm the Israelis which it had not done to that point. The other suggestion that stands out is that US reconnaissance planes rebranded in Israeli colours had accompanied the pre-emptive attacks of the Egyptian air force.

At the time, Egypt under Nasser as an ally of the Soviet Union was caught up in Cold War politics. The Six Days War created modern Israel-Palestine, and the suffocation and the disposssion of the Palestinians since then has been violence by other means. The fact that the Israelis, even at war, would attack an American ship and kill Americans, and that their action would be supported by direct intervention of President Johnson and cover-up is quite astounding. The prevailing myth is that little, threatened Israel won that war all on its own.

It seems clear to me that Israel benefits in critical ways, such as in the “pre-emptive attack” on Egypt in many ways, but how the US “Empire” benefit by having an armed and agressive Israel? Is the current governments of Egypt and Saudi Arabia a sufficient explanation?